Incarnations of a hunter
by KingStonecold
Summary: The longer you live, the more you change. For stonecold, this lead him on a truly twisted path, from hunter, to fugitive, to assasin, to hermit. This a tale of many, and the reincarnations they have gone through. This is thier story.
1. Chapter 1

First incarnation part one.

Stonecold stood at the edge of the cave entrance. He had made this jump many times before, but this time it was different. In his hunter's examination, Stonecold fought off three Tetsucabra (the guild had not had to improvise when they ran out of the stronger beasts), and the spoils of that fight had led to the creation of his armour. It was a standard issue suit of Tetsucabra armour, built from tough shells and hides. He knew the tendencies of the tusked amphibians off by heart. Gypceros and Gendromes were old news to him as well, but this time, his target was a Nerscylla.

This was fresh prey.

Stonecold ran a check on his satchel's contents.

_Whetstones: check  
Potions: check  
Rations: check  
Paintballs: check_

Nodding in contentment, Stonecold slung the satchel over his shoulder, and then attached his charge blade to his back. The weapon was of a custom make, made with a blend of Isisium and lightcrystal. He had named the blade _Planetcracker. _The shield was an admittedly simple design, with the exception of the large star-cut lightcrystal in the centre. The blade was more complex, a single edged sword with sharpened lightcrystal lining the edges. When swung, the blade lit up with red lightning, a sign that the weapon was imbued with dragon element attacks. With his equipment secure, Stonecold broke into a sprint to the edge of the sinkhole, and leapt.

Landing with a roll, Stonecold looked around. The hunt had officially begun. The Nerscylla had been described as a special kind of predator, one that hunts by trapping its prey in a strong, sticky web, then feeding on them over time. As he moved off into the tunnels, Stonecold heard skittering. He glanced behind him, hoping to find the source of the sound.  
_Bullocks to this, I'm not letting it catch me first._

Walking deeper into the cave Stonecold couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched, but he couldn't for the life of him find where the sound was coming from. Eventually, Stonecold found an eerie sight. A Gypceros, wrapped up in a web, and suspended from the ceiling. Judging by its groans, the unlucky sod was still alive. It was that point where Stonecold heard the skittering again, much louder than it was previously. Then, he saw the source of the sound. A huge arachnid, easily eleven metres long, crawled over to the trapped Gypceros, and sunk its fangs into its captive's neck.

"Holy shit" breathed Stonecold, observing the monster feast on its victim from behind cover.  
_Guess I've found my mark.  
_He watched the unpleasant display for about five minutes, until the Nerscylla had finished its meal. Stonecold had finally formulated a plan. He waited for his quarry to leave its meal behind, and then he moved over to the Gypceros. Drawing _Planetcracker_, he stabbed the beast through its head to put it out of its misery, and then he cut it open. Stonecold was about to shove a remote bomb into the carcass, until he felt a thud against the back of his armour.

Then he was yanked away from the trap he was setting. Looking up, Stonecold saw six beady, purple eyes staring at him, instilling him with a feeling of dread. The hunter felt something sharp injecting into his chest, and he soon blacked out.

A decent while after, Stonecold came to. Unable to move, he found himself wrapped in the web of the Nerscylla. Judging by the puncture marks in his armour, it had already fed a few times.

_Bloody hell. _

Not five minutes after the Charge blade user awoke, he heard voices.

"How the hell do you lose track of a Tetsucabra that big?!"  
"I don't know, Max, how did you? You were supposed to paintball the bastard."  
"Shut it, Riley. That fucking toad tried to eat me!"  
"It's a predator. One that you tried to kill. OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO TRY AND EAT YOU!"

Stonecold groaned. Rookies. He didn't like to admit it, but he needed their help. He called out with all his strength, trying to signal the hunters.

"HEY! OVER HERE!" he called, struggling with the webs pinning him down.

"The hell was that?" came the voice of Max, a bit closer now.  
"Sounds like another hunter!" went Riley, moving to the point where Stonecold could see them. The first was a young hunter, about nineteen, wore Jaggi armour, and carried an insect glaive. He was lightly shaved, sporting a goatee. The second hunter wore Kecha Wacha armour, and carried a light bowgun.

"Up here! Cut me down!"

The two rookies looked up to see Stonecold bound to the web.  
"How the hell did you get stuck up there, mate?"  
"It's bloody obvious, I'd think! Just cut me down!"

After a few minutes spent cutting Stonecold down, the three hunters had retreated to the base camp. Max, the hunter in the Kecha Wacha armour, finally asked the question.  
"So, Stonecold. What left you stuck like that?  
"I was hunting a Nerscylla. While I was setting a trap to get the jump on the bastard, it snuck up on me, caught me off guard. I think that was roughly an hour ago now. I'm going to need some help to take this fucker down. Fancy lending me a hand?"

Riley looked at Max, and shook his head.  
"Real sorry, mate. We've got a Tetsucabra to hunt."  
"Yeah, we'd love to help, but we really need to find that thing."

Stonecold gave an exasperated sigh, and then tried to cut a deal.  
"Let me cut you a deal. You help me off the Nerscylla, and I'll deal with your Tetsucabra problem. We got a deal?"

Max nodded, and Riley spoke up.  
"This Tetsucabra is really freaking huge, mate. You sure you want to go up against it?"  
"Oh, I know my Tetsucabras. Besides, I trust you guys will be joining in?"

Nihme was furious. Not only had that human killed her brand new catch, but it had the gall to escape from her nest!  
_This will not stand! That human has been killing off all of my prey! I can't drink from a dead Gypceros!_

Nihme moved closer to the entrance, and hid. The human would die for its transgressions today, no matter the cost.

As Stonecold descended into the sunken hollow, he felt a haunting gaze upon him. The Nerscylla was nearby, and it knew he was here.  
"I don't like this, Stonecold. Feels like I'm being watched."  
"Shut it, Riley. You think you're the only one that's feeling uneasy here?"

It wasn't long when they found their mark. Not in an easy way, of course. The Nerscylla was high on the cave walls, totally out of reach for the hunters. Mostly. Max drew his bowgun, and began to fire on the grotesque arachnid, in hopes of getting it down. Furious at the gunner, the Nerscylla leapt down with the intent to kill.

The battle was on.

Max rolled out of the way, firing a salvo of rounds into the Temnoceran. Drawing his insect glaive, Riley sent his Kinsect off to gather essence from the monster, while Stonecold leapt at it, swinging _Planetcracker _in a fearsome arc. The Nerscylla stepped back to avoid the blow from Stonecold, and then retaliated with a poisonous bite. Wincing in pain as the Nerscylla's mandibles tore through the already weakened chest plate, ripping it in two. Stonecold staggered back, weakened by the venom in the beast's bite. As he reached for a phial of antidote, the nightmarish arachnid raised its scythe-like foreleg, ready to strike the hunter down. It was cut short as a flaming projectile stuck it in the head.

Hissing in pain, the Nerscylla's gaze fell upon Max, only to take a blow to head from Riley, who swung his glaive at the terrible spider. Smashing its side into riley, The Nerscylla, now missing an eye, was seething with rage. It fired a globule of web at Max, then turned to Stonecold once more. The charge blade wielder darted forward, and slashed at the monster's hind leg, causing _Planetcracker_ to take on a yellow glow. A few slashes to the Nerscylla's underbelly, and P_lanetcracker_ was coursing with red light, crackling with draconic energy. Rolling out from under the spider, Stonecold slipped his blade into his shield, transferring the energy of his blade into a set of energy phials.

Releasing his hold on the shield, Stonecold swung in a titanic arc, with Planetcracker's shield splitting into two halves, and the blade extended, now a mighty battle-axe, just in time to slam down on the Nerscylla's toxic spikes, shattering them. A series of blasts followed, knocking the beast back.

While Nihme was used to her prey putting up a fight, she wasn't banking on the human having allies.

_I cannot win like this. I must retreat. But first…._

With that thought, Nihme raised her foreleg and lunged forwards, impaling the human dressed in Jaggi skins.

_"__One less pest to worry about_" thought Nihme, shaking her victim off of her scythe, and threw it against the wall, satisfied as she heard the crunching sound of the human's bones shattering on the impact. She chittered with glee as she saw the stain that the pest made against the wall.

Nihme shot a string of web to the ceiling, and pulled herself out of reach, moving far deeper into the cavern to find a more advantageous area to fight.

"Riley!" cried Max, as his partner's body fell to the floor, broken and lifeless.  
"Damnit!" cursed Stonecold, scanning the cave ceiling for any indication on where the Nerscylla had gone.

Grabbing hold of his fallen partner's arms, Max began to carry Riley's body back to the cave entrance.  
"Where are you going?" asked Stonecold, sheathing _Planetcracker. _  
"I'm sorry, Stonecold. I'm going to bury my brother, then I'm going home. I'm calling off the Tetsucabra hunt. If you want to fight it, be my guest."

With that, the Gunner and the Blademaster went their separate ways. Stonecold trekked further into the sunken hollow, while Max went to bury Riley under a beam of sunlight from one of the holes in the ceiling.

It wasn't long before Stonecold heard the tell-tale roar of a Tetsucabra, although it sounded like the tusked amphibian was in pain. Sprinting towards the source, Stonecold found why. It was engaged in battle with the Nerscylla, and it looked to be losing. Stonecold stood up high above the two combatants, ran at the ledge, and jumped. As he did, the hunter switched _Planetcracker _to axe form, and swung it down on the Nerscylla's foreleg, severing the appendage from the body. Shrieking in shock and pain, the arachnid fell on its side, and Stonecold clambered onto its back. He drew his dagger, and began to viciously stab at the Nerscylla. The toxic spider tried to climb to its feet, but fatigue overcame it. The Nerscylla gave an almost sigh-like sound, before the Tetsucabra charged forwards, and ran its opponent through on its tusks. As it pulled its tusks from the Nerscylla, the Tetsucabra looked towards Stonecold, and grunted in a way that sounded appreciative. It began to walk off, with a slight limp. Not sure what to think, Stonecold picked up the Nerscylla's severed foreleg, and after carving off a good bit of the oversized spider, proceeded to head back to base camp, ready to go home.

The next day, Stonecold was at the forge, working on his gear. He'd turned the Nerscylla's foreleg into a hunting dagger. His Tetsucabra armour was damaged beyond all repair, and he was working on a set made from the Nerscylla parts he had brought in. As he worked, a huntress, clad in Zamitros gunner armour came up to him, waving in greeting as she did.

"Hey Stonecold!"  
"Hey Steph." responded Stonecold, as he worked on hammering a Nerscylla shell into a shoulder guard.  
"Enjoy your hunt?"  
"A rookie got killed under my supervision."  
Steph's eyes widened as Stonecold said those words.  
"What do you mean 'A rookie got killed?' You were going solo!"  
"They were hunting a Tetsucabra. For some reason, the idiots came to the northern area. Granted, I'd be dead if not for them. I guess there's that."  
Steph shook her head, and muttered "Stonecold, people don't usually take someone's death so calmly."  
"We're hunters, we see it all the time."  
"Sometimes I worry about you, James."

The mention of his real name caused Stonecold to wince. "Don't call me that. You know the rules, Steph. No-one calls me that."  
Intimidated, Steph tried to find a more positive topic. "Oh, by the way, Stonecold, the guild master wants to talk to you. He said you can now go after rank two monsters! He just needs you to go through the ceremony."

This news got Stonecold to smile. He removed his blacksmithing apron, and put on his new set of Nerscylla armour. He had to say, it looked good.

**Despite my detractor's best efforts, I'm not dead! Yes, Norman, that means you. I bring you Monster Hunter: Incarnations! This will be my new main story. Dragon god is gone, will stay gone, and I'd like all of you to forget it existed. Terra quest will be on hiatus for a decent while. Expect to see it next year. This is the story I've been working on for a while, once again edited by Thomas A. Hawk! Read his stuff. READ IT! All of his work is really well written, if you're able to look past all the exclamation marks in his first two stories. **

**As for the theme of this chapter, it's 'Proof of a Hero'. A fitting opening to an epic adventure.**

**Playing: TESV: Skyrim, Kirby triple deluxe, MH4U, Terraria.**

**Reading: The Master Corps by Thomas A. Hawk, Infinity Blade Awakening and Redemption, the random crap people say on the terraria forums.**

**Listening to: JT machinima, Blacklute, Imagine dragons, the Kirby triple deluxe true arena theme because I can't BEAT THAT FUCKING BASTARD KRACKO DX! FUCK YOU KRACKO!**

**Watching: MLP: FiM, NHC productions' monster hunter animations, Zero punctuation, the Jimquisition**


	2. Chapter 2

Raths. Dangerous on their own, especially dangerous in pairs, and when in mating season…

Stonecold didn't like to think about it.

Unfortunately, some people had the enormously poor judgement to build a village within a Rath mating ground and had the stubbornness to refuse to move somewhere else. Or evacuate during this time of year. They had an underground safe house, but many were concerned about the dubious builder. For some reason, the guild had decided to garrison a squad of twenty hunters there during mating season, instead of letting natural selection take its place.

The guild couldn't get a feasibly sized team of volunteers, as no sane hunters wanted to face hordes of horny, fire-breathing, poisonous winged reptiles. Because of this, the Guild had to conscript a few hunters from each rank. Stonecold had unfortunately been one of the twenty hunters to draw the short straw.

"Bloody typical. My promotion rolls around at the start of spring, and my first assignment is a bloody suicide mission!"

Nearby, a great sword user by the name of Jai spoke up.

"Buck up, Stonecold," he reasoned. "At least they had the sense to build the place from rock." Jai was a large man, Intelligent but strong. His features were rounded, and his hair was long and black, heavily contrasting Stonecold's very short orange hair. While Stonecold bore a short goatee, Jai had a full beard. He favoured his fists and strength over weapons, something that his abundant scars and burns made very clear. While clever, analytical and fussy, he refused to fight with subtlety or self-preservation instincts. His armour, made from Brachydios shell, weighed a good deal.

Stonecold nervously adjusted Planetcracker, not being comforted in the least. Jai was an old friend of his, and as he was concerned, a complete nutter. Possibly more-so than the hunters in that elite group in Loc-lac, though not nearly as skilled.

The beginning of Rath mating season was upon them. Stonecold was in the training yard, practicing his Axe mode techniques. He jabbed, then slashed upwards, rolled to the side, slashed horizontally, then struck with a super amped discharge technique of his own design. Stonecold plunged the head of Planetcracker into the ground, breathing deeply as dust started to swirl around, enveloping him. The dust cloud dissipated, and Stonecold charged forwards, his weapon crackling with draconic energy. He leapt and swung the axe downwards, using the weapon's momentum to enter a somersault attack.

Jai, who had just swung his Dios Blade into his practice dummy, raised his helmet and chuckled, observing the display.

"Nicely done, Stoneco-" He was cut off as his dummy exploded, launching him to the side.

It was then when another hunter showed up. He wore Zinogre armour, and carried an Insect glaive, Indigo Flash. "Hey Halwind." said Stonecold, helping Jai to his feet, (no easy task, considering the weight of his armour and sword.) "You ready to go?"

Halwind was another friend of Stonecold's. He had sharp, wolf-like features, and messy brown hair. Unlike Stonecold who took great care of his goatee, or Jai, who shortened his beard with his hunting knife once a fortnight, Halwind was clean shaven. Halwind was an odd bloke who seemed to find something good about everything, even when he had been swallowed whole by a Zamtrios. He almost seemed to have a brother like bond with his Kinsect, Red, which raised a few questions. Most hunters who use glaives would have a Kinsect allocated to them for use with their glaives. Hal's Kinsect followed him even when Halwind was using a Longsword or Gunlance.

"Yep. Heard that there's even a Silver Rathalos on its way to the grounds. Looking forward to that one!"

"Well, that's all the proof I need. You're completely mad."

A roar rang through the village. Cursing heavily, Stonecold went to stock up on supplies as the draconic silhouettes of the first Rathalos of the season flew overhead. As he grabbed his medical supplies, Stonecold heard a Rathalos cry. It sounded furious, seething with unbridled rage. The following sound of a fireball blast told Stonecold everything he needed to know.

The first of the rathalos to attack had landed very near to the training grounds. Jai and Halwind were focusing on driving it back, but success was won, not granted. As Halwind kept it busy with his constant barrages of strikes from his glaive, Jai focussed on dealing the heavy damage. When the Red-Scaled wyvern turned to deal with the pest, Jai smacked it across the face his the flat of his blade, then rolled underneath it. He was about to slash it open when the Sky-king flew up in the air, throwing a fireball down onto him. As Jai was blasted through the air for the second time that day, Halwind vaulted into the air. He landed on the top of the barracks, before launching his Kinsect through the air at the Rathalos. The glaive wielder had to dive out of the way though, as the Rathalos swooped in, raking the air where he once stood with its poisonous talons. When the Kinsect returned, Halwind vaulted at the wyvern, bringing down the electrified staff on the King's wing. The four prongs of the staff tore through the tissue of the limb, and the innate electricity of the Glaive caused the Rathalos to screech in pain.

As Stonecold reached the door to the barracks exit, he saw the Rathalos fall to ground directly in front of him. Yelling in shock, Stonecold drew Planetcracker, and jabbed the blade into the monster's gut. To his surprise, another blade burst out of the rathalos. A Dios Blade, glowing yellow. Stonecold panicked, trying to pull the broadsword out of the rathalos corpse. Just as the weapon began to give, the explosive slime coating the Dios Blade detonated, splattering him with gore and sending him flying back into the barracks, which were already looking like something from one of those horror-plays that Stonecold had been tricked into visiting as a teenager. Looking at the messy display, Stonecold wiped the gore from his visor. He dashed outside, glaring furiously at Jai.

Halwind dropped down from the roof of the barracks, landing with a quiet grunt.

"That one's dead, right?

"Very. Undoubtedly. Messily."

Stonecold chuckled as he drew his carving knife, and began to work on carving off pieces of the beast. Jai deactivated the slime flow on his Greatsword, before using it to safely sever the dragon's tail. He began work on carving off the spikes and scales, including a Rathalos plate.

"Guys, I wouldn't settle down just yet."

As if on cue, more roars were heard above the village. Quite a few more. Looking up, the three hunters saw a truly bowel loosening sight. Dozens of Rath wyverns circled above, ready to look for a mate. The village stood upon their sacred grounds, and the Rulers of land and sky did not show mercy to those who imposed upon their territory. The wyverns darted down, screeching furiously. As Jai, Stonecold and Halwind drew their weapons, another hunter emerged from the barracks. He wore Nargacuga gunner armour, and carried a bow made from the same materials. Behind him trailed two Palicos, one wearing Basarios gear, and the other wearing a red hat and overalls, smelling faintly of mushrooms for some reason. Stonecold knew better than to question why the Felyne had a moustache, but he imagined that the answer would be fairly odd.

Halwind spoke up, breaking the somewhat awkward silence.

"Uh, guys? We need to get some higher ground!"

"Agreed. We need to move!"

Stonecold ran up to the wall of the barracks, using the gaps in the cobblestone to climb. The other hunters followed suit (Jai required quite a bit of extra help to get up), and began to scan the nearby area.

The hunter in the Nargacuga armour attached paralysis coating to his bow before nocking an arrow and looking around for a Rath of any kind. Most of them had gone to different areas in the town, and all had one or two hunters dealing with them.

"I'm Josh, by the way." He introduced, breathing heavily. "You will never see the fish."

Before anyone had the chance to ponder the nature of the archer's rather curious statement, he fired an arrow at a swooping Pink Rathian. Everyone dived to the ground, before the dragon crashed to through the roof, into the barracks. Josh's Palicos ran towards the hole in the roof, jumping down just as the Rathian recovered. "Don't worry about it, boss! We'll be purrfectly fine!" A number of growls, squawks, hisses, meows, and for some reason, engine noises and cannon fire were heard, before the Pink Queen of the land took to the air with its tail between its legs. The Felynes emerged from the barracks, cheering in victory. They seemed to be holding onto fragments of the Rathians armour, which they left lying in a pile. Their cheer was short-lived, however, when four more Rath dragons bore down on the barracks.

"Everyone, Pick a monster and stick to it!"

It took little time for the four hunters to register this order. Jai made for the Azure Rathalos, Halwind attacked the Pink Rathian, Joshua opened fire on a Rathian, and Stonecold engaged with the Rathalos.

Jai had been an incredibly strong person. After a hunt of his killed a male and female Brachydios, he took their egg back with him, hatched it, and had been raising the juvenile Brute Wyvern as a pet of sorts. Once it grew to his size, Jai would constantly wrestle with it, aiding in its development and his own. The strength that this had granted him made Jai a powerful hand to hand fighter, to the point where he could fight monsters bare-handed. While this impressed most hunters, the Azure Rathalos that Jai was fighting was not amused in the slightest. In fact, it was pissed.

He raised the Dios edge into a guarding position, just in time to block the Azure Rathalos swooping down. It swiped it's talons across the blade, sending sparks flying and staggering Jai, who rolled out of the way just quickly enough to avoid the monster's flames. Reaching down to his belt, Jai drew a small throwing knife, glowing with Brachydios slime. With a flick of the wrist he threw the knife, the tip digging into the gap between the flying wyvern's neck scales. The blue king of the skies turned to face him yet again, and lunged at him with a fiery bite. Jai kicked at the Rathalos, causing the beast to flinch mid-bite. A blast rang out, with the Blue Sky King's scales were blasted from his neck. The Wyvern was furious, and charged, falling from the roof of the barracks in his blinding rage. Jai leapt down after it, drawing his hunting knife as he landed on its back. The Azure Rathalos shook furiously, trying to shake the weighty hunter from its back. It took to the skies, carrying its combatant with it. It stopped ascending once it hit a hundred feet in the air, once again trying to shake Jai off its back.

Jai held on for dear life, knowing that a fall from this height would be messy. He crawled along the Rathalos' back, eventually reaching the spot on its neck where the armour had been blown off. Jai raised his dagger, and stabbed at the exposed flesh, wrenching the blade around, before ripping the knife from the Flaming King's neck. A huge spray of blood flew from the wound, before the Wyvern fell. Jai jumped from the Azure Rathalos' corpse, grabbing onto the tail of the Rathian Josh was fighting, dragging it down and slowing his fall.

Josh was a weird one. He preferred to be stealthy, usually relying on his bow to fight monsters from a difference while his Palicos distracted them. Some claimed he was a coward, but these were generally young hunters, who believed that most fights could be won by hitting it. These where the kind of hunters who would be reduced to a smear once they met a Barroth. Most call him insane. They couldn't be more right.

When push comes to shove, self-preservation became a foreign concept to him. Almost no-one could see what the madman was doing, with the speed and inconsistency of his movements being impossible to read. It was such a bizarre sight that the other hunters had taken to saying he had 'the reflexes of a coked-up Kecha-Wacha with its arse on fire'. A bizarre analogy, but fitting. The dual swords he wore at his waist meant that no monster, human, lynian, or inanimate object were safe at any distance.

He fired shot after shot at the Rathian, while his Palicos, Whitescruff and Melvin, smacked at its face. As the Rathian charged forwards, Josh threw his bow in the air, over the Rathian. He drew the Twin Rapiers at his hip, and ran at the monster, rolling under it and slashing at its belly as it charged past, then plunging the swords into the ground and catching the bow as it fell. Josh let fly another arrow, slashing off one of the spines on the land queen's tail. She turned, seething with rage, before releasing a stream of flame, missing him but searing some of the Nargacuga fur coating Josh's armour. He quickly patted out the small flame, then fired a cluster of arrows skywards, and grabbed a phial of paralytic venom. The mad archer threw the phial into the air, and slashed at it with his dual swords. The Rathian screeched in panic as the arrows started to rain down, and flew off of the roof to avoid further attacks. She turned and was about to flee, before Jai leapt onto her tail, dragging her to the ground.

"Need a hand, Josh?" he asked, pinning the flying wyvern by her neck.

"Nope."

"TOO BAD. I'M HELPING AND YOU CAN'T STOP ME!"

Josh jumped from the roof, and slashed at the monster, causing the venom to seep into her bloodstream. The effect was immediate, with the Rathian groaning, unable to move. Jai swung his great sword down on the monster, leaving a huge gash along the queen's belly, then Josh slashed along the wound, splashing tremendous amounts of gore on the ground. He then ran to the head of the Rathian, and stabbed. AND HE DID NOT STOP STABBING. After five seconds or so, Jai tackled him to the ground, and smacked him across the face.

"IT'S DEAD! IT'S BEEN DEAD SINCE THE FIRST STAB! YOU CAN STOP STABBING NOW!"

"Okay, okay, okay I'll stop," said Josh, with a remarkably straight face. Jai got up, and lifted josh to his feet. Then the archer broke into a mad grin. "After a few more jabs!" he cried, giggling maniacally.

"OI! Get back here!"

As Jai was about to attempt bringing the madman under control again, he paused. Much to his surprise, so did Joshua. A blinding flash of electricity shot through the sky, and the charred skeleton of a Rathian flew from the roof, shattering on the ground.

"Fancy! Any more things to stab?" asked Josh, still bearing a look of instability.

Halwind panted heavily as he dived out of the way of the Pink Rathian's tail spin. "Nice try, lady, I can see that coming from a mile away!" he laughed, before firing a pheromone bullet at the monster. The liquid burst over her wing, releasing a sweet scent to the world. Red, who was resting on Halwind's arm, sprung to life, flying towards the wyvern at a rapid pace, and sunk its teeth into the tissue. The Rathian flinched momentarily, before glaring at the biter and roaring furiously, causing the bug to jump back in shock, and then quickly flew off, back to its hunter. Red landed on Halwind's glaive, nuzzling against him. Halwind felt the essence of the Pink Rathian flow to him, and he tightened his grip on the glaive.

"Alright, lady! LET'S DO THIS!"

The prongs on his glaive sparking, Halwind charged forwards at his target. The Rathian breathed a stream of flame at him, which he merely vaulted over, before slamming the weapon down. The Rathian hopped backwards mostly avoiding the swing but losing a few scales on the side of its neck. Halwind darted forwards from there, trying to drive the trident-like staff through the monster's stomach. He barely missed again, thudding against the She-dragon's sternum. The Pink Rathian winced as some of the glaive's electricity dispersed into her body, before taking to the sky. Red took off from Halwind's arm, and attached itself to the wyvern's face, biting around her eyes until it managed to pull the essence of the Rathian's strength. Red flew down to Halwind, and administered the essence to him. Halwind began glowing red, and twirled the Indigo Flash around in his hands a few times, before vaulting to the air, just as draconic lightning arced to the Pink Rathian, as well as to the Indigo Flash. Halwind smashed the prongs of his weapon through the wyvern's torso, punching straight through the scales, hide, ribs, organs and spine of the Rathian. The Pink Rathian died instantly, falling to the roof of the barracks. His weapon glowed with blindingly bright lightning, A deafening thunderclap rang though the air, and accompanied by a flash of lightning, burning away the tissue of the Rathian and launching its burnt skeleton through the air.

"That. Was. INCREDIBLE!" cheered Halwind, as he landed on the roof. Red chittered in agreement, nuzzling against Halwind in glee.

Stonecold was starting to panic, as the barracks were becoming less and less intact. The roof was breaking down, fires were sprouting, and the Nerscylla shell that made up the Charge-blade user's armour did not react well to heat. Stonecold ducked behind his shield to protect from the flames being spewed by his opponent, silently cursing that bastard that was evolution for giving the Rathalos the flame breath and tough scaly hide, instead of him.

Never let it be said that misanthropic Brits are incapable of being petty, because the wanker who said that is thoroughly misinformed, and should be smacked.

The Rathalos hopped into the air, before flying forwards at the hunter, knocking him off the building into the barracks. Looking around for a way out, Stonecold saw a Heavy Bowgun made from Zinogre materials, that guild technicians had dubbed as a 'Railgun' which used magnetism to instantly propel shots from the chamber to the monster. Only Zinogre parts were usable for this design at the time, but Stonecold had heard talk that a lighter variant could be made from Dalamadur materials. This was a problem in and of itself, of course, but the weapon Stonecold held would do for now. Chuckling, Stonecold checked the chamber for ammunition, and found it to be loaded with Thunder S. The chuckling had ascended to full-blown maniacal laughter, until the Charge-blade user caught himself, and stopped suddenly, ever so slightly embarrassed. The Flaming Red King peered down through the hole in the roof, before pulling back as an electrified shot ripped past his face. Stonecold cursed quietly, as his armour made it nigh impossible to aim with any degree of accuracy. He pulled himself out of the barracks, firing a few more rounds at the beast that stood opposing him, until the weapon ran dry. Throwing the Heavy Bowgun to the side, Stonecold drew the broadsword component of Planetcracker, before darting at the King of the Sky and raking the sword across the dragon's face with both hands. The Rathalos roared in anger and pain, missing an eye and bleeding heavily from a deep gash across his face. His attempt to weakly blast Stonecold with flame was interrupted by said hunter's boot making contact with his already painful wound. Stonecold then drew the shield component of Planetcracker, before smacking it into the Rathalos. The British hunter merged the two pieces into axe mode, then pulled the axe head back, arming the beam mode prototype, a special amp variant of his own design. A blood red beam of light spewed from the star-cut jewel, creating a five foot lance of energy. The blacksmith thrust his creation forwards, tearing the now deposed King asunder, and arcing draconic shockwaves all over. This was swiftly followed by a blinding flash of lightning.

The four hunters gathered in the rubble that was once the Guild Barracks. Looking over the charred, bloody, mutilated remains of their wyvern opponents, they were speechless with each other's handiwork, from a painful combination of nausea and awe.

"Umm…Josh?"  
"Yes, Halwind?"  
"What the fuck?"

The archer glanced at the barely recognizable remains of his opponent, contemplating it for a brief moment. "Whatever do you mean?" he inquired, clearly confused as to the nature of the question.

"I think what Halwind means to ask, is 'WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO?' Why was that necessary?"  
"I still don't understand. What's the problem here?"

Before Stonecold could go off on another tangent, Jai swiftly smacked him over the head. "Does it matter? Look up!"

Following his instruction, the hunters witnessed a sight to behold. All of the Rath Wyverns were fleeing the village! A few cheers emerged from around the town, as all twenty of the hunters deployed to the town rejoiced.

_It didn't last long. _

The sky shone with brilliant light, as the sunlight was reflected by something shiny. More specifically: _Two very shiny wyverns, one gold and the other silver._ A G-rank longsword user in Tetsucabra armour said it best.

"Oh, cock."

Every gunner there immediately opened fire with their most potent ammunition. With nine Bowguns going off at once, the noise was deafening, but did little to deter the two wyverns. If anything, it made them notice the miniature army a hundred metres below. Stonecold was pretty sure that one of the rookies had crapped himself. Briefly Stonecold pondered why the guild would send these people. If he lived, he'd have to ask the guild himself.  
The Silver Rathalos dove downwards at the hunters, swooping through their ranks. As he dived out of the way, Stonecold saw that the Silver Sol wyvern was easily a Gold Crown size, perhaps even in the newly established Platinum crown size. The Silver Sky King was almost thirty metres long! This time, it was Stonecold who cursed.

"Oh balls"

No matter how hard they fought, not even the best equipped of the G-Rank hunters could cut through. This King of the Sky had skin like the Dire Miralis. The Silver Rathalos was utterly ruthless with his attacks, impaling a G-rank hunter on his tail spikes, incinerating a huntress with his flames, and swallowing several Palicos _whole_. As it brought down the town hall on top of several High Rank hunters, who had retreated to administer medical attention on the rookies wounded in the previous horde, Stonecold noticed something. The Silver Rathalos had glowing, purple eyes, and smoke of the same colour trailed from his mouth. _This thing is diseased! _Stonecold looked on in wonder and horror as it went about the slaughter. The breaking point was when the Gold Rathian landed, trying to capture the male's attention. She did, but not in the way she wanted, Stonecold wagered. The Rathalos charged it his counterpart, before leaping at her, and pinning her down. Instead of the usual display of strength that a Rathalos used to prove it would be a protective father, the wyvern was fighting, with intent to kill. The Gold Rathian realized this, and tried defend herself with all the flame she could muster. A shame, too. That flame was the first thing that had gotten the bloody dragon to even flinch. But, alas, the male reached down, clamped his jaws around her neck, and ripped the throat from her body.

The Silver Rathalos turned, glaring right at Stonecold. Stonecold felt the manic, bloodshot eyes of the wyvern upon him, and for the first time in a good deal of years, Stonecold felt genuine dread. Not fear, not worry, actual unadulterated dread. He did what any sensible person would do; He ran, just in time, too. If Stonecold had stayed for half a second longer, he would be little more than a scorch mark on the wreckage of the building behind him. After Stonecold had ran for what seemed was an hour, at a great distance from the town did Stonecold look back. It seemed that the beast had lost interest in him, for it was still in the town, destroying all it lay eyes on. To be cautious, Stonecold crawled to the shelter of a boulder with a slight overhang, to prevent the Silver Rathalos from spotting him if it decided to go looking for him again. Not wanting to think about the fate of his friends, he pulled his armour off, leaving him in his civilian garb.

Then he collapsed, lying on his back in exhaustion and sorrow. Stonecold closed his eyes and tried to sleep, only to be disturbed by two voices.

_"__A survivor. Well built, too. He'll make a nice addition to the Reincarnation. Perhaps a tamer or an assassin?"  
"Perhaps, but not now. Unless he can kill people with the same fervour that he slays beasts, he will not do. Have Lady Thalia observe him for the time being."_

_"__He stirs. Put him back to sleep, take him to Dundorma, and inform our representative there that Celestius lives. We will test this one soon."_

Stonecold managed to open his eyes long enough to see the two figures. They both wore faceless horned masks and black armour streaked with purple that covered their whole body. Before he could make out anything else, they had jabbed a needle into his neck. It wouldn't be a week until he awoke.


End file.
